Confidential Talk
by Lianne Everdeen
Summary: Annabeth shares her fears about Percy's disappearance with Piper, and the girls' friendship strengthens. Set shortly after the end of The Lost Hero. (cover picture coming soon!) Piper's POV. Thanks to author Hope Prior for editing.


The weather of the mortal world didn't penetrate the borders of Camp Half Blood, but it was still chillier than normal on New Year's Eve as I headed across the field to Cabin 6. Jason was helping Leo in Bunker 9, but we had plans for the evening (New Year's party, after all,) so instead of seeing what I could do there, I decided to to find Annabeth. I hoped we could have a little quality "girl time." I really liked her a lot, and I looked up to her, but I hadn't gotten to spend much time with her since Jason, Leo and I returned from our quest. Most of the time Annabeth was busy on her laptop, and (I'm not ashamed to admit this,) I was busy with Jason. But now I had the perfect opportunity to hang out with Annabeth. I had seen a couple of the Athena kids who were staying for the winter down by the dining pavillion, helping prepare for the New Year's Eve party, so I knew Cabin 6 would be at least partially empty.

I knocked lightly on the door. No answer. I opened it, a little hesitantly. I stood in the doorway and took in the somewhat familiar sights of the maps and blueprints covering the walls, the bookshelves and architectual models. It seemed like no one was there. I closed the door and stepped in further. I could hear something now – it sounded like crying.

"Hello?" I called out gently.

There was no answer. I followed the sound of the crying around some bunk beds and tables to a desk in the far corner. A girl in a gray sweater with blond hair in a messy knot at the nape of her neck sat at the desk, her head buried in her arms. She was sobbing. A laptop sat next to papers and books piled high. I could hardly believe it, but yes, it was her.

"Annabeth?" I whispered, concerned. She didn't strike me as the kind of person to be crying in a corner, but she'd been through a lot lately, and even the strongest people can break sometimes. I hurried to her side and pulled over a chair.

My friend lifted her head to looked at me. Her gray eyes were red and puffy, and ringed with dark circles. She gave me a weak smile. "Hey Piper," she said, a little sheepishly.

"Hey," I replied. "What's wrong?" I glanced over at her computer screen. "Ohh..." I said.

Annabeth nodded.

On the screen wasn't an architectural diagram or an article in Ancient Greek, like there usually was. Instead, there was a picture of Annabeth and Percy. It looked like it had been taken somewhere in a big city – New York, maybe? I knew Percy lived there when he wasn't at the camp. He had his arm slung around Annabeth's shoulder, and he was kissing her cheek. She was laughing and trying to push him away, like she wanted a nicely posed picture. But she was blushing and I could tell she really didn't mind one bit. In fact, she was loving it. As a child of Aphrodite, I can notice things like that.

"I just..." Annabeth gulped back a sob. "I miss him so much! I can't stand this _not knowing_. It's not going to be till spring when the ship is done, and there's no way to contact Camp Jupiter, and I...I..." She trailed off and rubbed her temples like she had a headache. "Sorry. I shouldn't be ranting on like this. I'm ashamed of myself, blubbering on here..."

"No!" I exclaimed, feeling a sharp pang of sympathy. "It's fine! I'm here to listen. Don't be afraid to rant or cry, or say anything you think is silly. After living in my cabin..." I trailed off. I was certain Annabeth knew what Aphrodite girls could be like.

Annabeth's gray eyes were grateful. "Thank you, Piper." She took a deep, shuddering breath and gestured to the picture. "He...he's like...my Achilles heel, that idiot of a seaweed brain. He's so_ brave, _and I love him _so _much. It's like a part of me is missing. If I could just have one touch, one hug, even to see him for a split second, to know he's okay! I hate feeling so _incomplete._I never knew...how much I need him..." She hiccup-sobbed and clapped her hand over her mouth. I scooted closer and put my arm around her shoulders, which shook with supressed sobs.

I let my friend cry, and I rubbed her shoulder every few moments. It almost made me cry myself. The love I could hear so strongly in her voice made my heart ache.

After couple minutes Annabeth spoke again. "I feel like I'm living in constant fear. I can't sleep sometimes because I keep having nightmares. And then sometimes when I actually _do_ sleep without nightmares,I wake up thinking I'm gonna see him in the dining pavillion in just a few minutes, and he's going to kiss me good morning, and then I remember he's not here. I know Hera has to be keeping him alive, because of...but, ooh, I just _hate _her!" Annabeth's choked voice became fueled with anger. She slammed her fist into her palm. "There's so many things I could say to that...that...aargh!" Her pained fury escalated and dropped as fast as one of Jason's lightning bolts. Annabeth let out another sob and her head collapsed into her arms again. A piece of her golden hair slipped out of her bun. It looked like that had been happening for the past few days. I gently tucked it back.

"I hate Hera too," I replied. "There's no kidding that what she's done to our boyfriends is just plain cruel."

Annabeth raised her head and sighed through her tears. "Piper, you know what it's like, don't you? Always having to put on a front of being strong, because everybody expects it of you?"

I nodded, knowing all too well what Annabeth meant.

"I have so many responsibilites," she continued. "Senior counselor, redesigning Olympus...lately I've barely been keeping it together without breaking down every waking moment. I'm usually so put together...at least, I'm supposed to be...but I feel like I'm falling apart – like I said, part of me is missing. And I never realized I thought of him like that, until..."

"Annabeth, you've been amazing," I said. "I know it's really hard for you, but I know you can stick through this. I believe in you. And if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be here." Not a single word I said was spoken with charmspeak.

Annabeth smiled and wiped tears off her cheeks. She could tell that I was completely sincere. "Thank you, Piper. I'm glad you came in here – I...there's not many people who I could talk to about this..." The sadness in her stormy gray eyes grew stronger, and she looked away.

"I'm so scared that he won't remember any of it," Annabeth said after a moment. "Since Jason had his memory wiped, it's like a 99.9 percent positive that Percy has too! I know Jason is remembering things, but...I dunno, what if Percy can't? What if he doesn't remember any of our quests and all the adventures we had? How we defeated Medusa, when he saved me from the Sirens, how he turned into a guinea pig..." She laughed weakly. "We both held the sky, you know."

I didn't recongnize any of these stories, (and I was kind of curious about the guinea pig...) but I gently rubbed Annabeth's shoulder and told her softly, "Go on."

"It took so much courage for me to kiss him when we were in that volcano," Annabeth said, choking up a little again. "And then, after it was all over, the Titan war, we had our first real kiss and everything was so perfect. We were officially together and we had so much fun."

"I can tell," I replied. "I love the picture."

Annabeth smiled. "His mom took that when we came back from a date in New York City."

"Could I see...do you have more?" I asked hesitantly. "I mean, if you don't want to show me, it's totally okay."

Annabeth shook her head. "No, Piper, I do want to show you." She reached out, pulled her laptop closer and hit the right arrow key. We went through about ten photos of Percy and Annabeth...of them on the Big House porch, in the strawberry fields, by the water in New York City, at some kind of amusement park, in the Posiedon cabin... In every one of them, both Annabeth and her boyfriend looked radiantly happy (and in love.) They were absolutely the sweetest pictures I'd ever seen.

They made me think of something that had been on my mind lately, and Annabeth was calmed down enough now that I figured I'd bring it up.

"Annabeth, you know all about how the Mist messed with my memories of Jason."

She nodded, as if she knew just how much I had struggled with that.

"Well, now we're forging an actual relationship, and...I was wondering, you and Percy...it took so long. Do you think...I mean, I don't know..." I stuttered, irritated that I was unable to put it into words.

Annabeth nodded again. "You're worried that it won't work out? Piper, I've seen the way you two look at each other. Sometimes I have to look away because it makes me miss Percy too much."

I blinked, surprised. "Really?"

Annabeth nodded. "Never thought I'd have an Aphrodite girl ask _me _for relationship advice," she said wryly.

"I asked you because you love Percy so much," I replied honestly. "I've never even met him or seen you two together, but I can tell you guys have a great relationship."

Annabeth smiled, a sad smile, but her gray eyes lit up. "That means a lot," she told me. "Sometimes it's kind of annoying when all our friends do is tease us."

I laughed. "I can't wait to meet him. And Annabeth, I don't see how he _couldn't _remember you."

"I hope so," Annabeth replied. Heartbreak and hope were mingled in her voice. She thoughtfully shuffled a few of the papers on her desk. An architechtural sketch peeked out from behind a few diagrams and ancient Greek scribbles.

"What's that?" I asked. "One of the buildings for Olympus?"

Annabeth nodded. She pulled the sheet of creamy white paper out of the pile and handed it to me. "It's just a rough sketch," she said. "Not that good."

"It's beautiful," I replied.

"I can show you the final design on here," Annabeth said, her hands flying across the keyboard of her laptop.

"I'd love to see it, and any more you have," I answered.

"Okay!" Annabeth laughed. "But when we're done, I owe you one confidential talk and a look at some of _your _pictures."

I giggled. "Sounds good."

As I leaned closer to look at the amazing designs, I thought of how for the first time in my life, I had found true friends – Jason, Leo, and now, Annabeth – and I couldn't ask for any better ones.


End file.
